College Community students learn new dance moves from author Eric Litwin

One 2 Read 2017 focused on getting books to second graders and hosting author performances. More than 2,500 second graders received a copy of Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. More than 400 students saw the author, Eric Litwin, perform and more than 450 community members attended two additional performances at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.

The library performances included groovy buttons for children, made by Youth Achievement AmeriCorps members, and a books sign by Mr. Litwin. Families brought their own well-loved books for signatures and purchased new Litwin books from Barnes and Noble Booksellers. A portion of the proceeds from the sales were donated back to Friends of the Cedar Rapids Library.

Sponsored by Friends of the Cedar Rapids Public Library, Friends of the Marion Public Library, and Reading into Success, the event was a great success. Planning has already begun for 2018. The book for 2018 will be announced in June and will be followed by months of planning for more activities to engage the community in the joy of learning to read.

Kids and teachers alike dance along to Keep Rolling

Cedar Rapids and Linn Mar students chair dance to Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.

The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation celebrated community Wednesday, November 16 in an event at the Czech and Slovak Museum. The celebration included a video explaining how our community is coming together through Reading into Success to increase the number of children reading proficiently.

]]>https://www.readingintosuccess.org/greater-cedar-rapids-community-foundation-celebrates-community/feed/0Gazette, July 17, 2016: Research says chronically absent students are less likely to succeed academicallyhttps://www.readingintosuccess.org/gazette-july-17-2016-research-says-chronically-absent-students-less-likely-succeed-academically/
https://www.readingintosuccess.org/gazette-july-17-2016-research-says-chronically-absent-students-less-likely-succeed-academically/#respondTue, 19 Jul 2016 18:05:03 +0000http://www.readingintosuccess.org/?p=145The post Gazette, July 17, 2016: Research says chronically absent students are less likely to succeed academically appeared first on Reading into Success.
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]]>https://www.readingintosuccess.org/gazette-july-17-2016-research-says-chronically-absent-students-less-likely-succeed-academically/feed/0Community Event: Chapter 2https://www.readingintosuccess.org/community-event-chapter-2/
https://www.readingintosuccess.org/community-event-chapter-2/#respondWed, 13 Apr 2016 13:52:38 +0000http://www.readingintosuccess.org/?p=129Reading into Success committees were joined by community members March 29 to celebrate the first year of the collaboration. Following a brief update on national and state efforts from State Lead Becky Miles-Polka and overviews of the focus areas from committee facilitators, attendees had the chance to weigh in on what is happening. Conversations flowed...

]]>Reading into Success committees were joined by community members March 29 to celebrate the first year of the collaboration. Following a brief update on national and state efforts from State Lead Becky Miles-Polka and overviews of the focus areas from committee facilitators, attendees had the chance to weigh in on what is happening. Conversations flowed around the great work and ideas already happening, what changes might be beneficial, and what new ideas the teams might want to consider. Check out the story on KCRG!

]]>https://www.readingintosuccess.org/community-event-chapter-2/feed/0KCRG, March 4, 2016: Companies, nonprofits cooperating to help schools meet reading requirementshttps://www.readingintosuccess.org/kcrg-march-4-2016-companies-nonprofits-cooperating-to-help-schools-meet-reading-requirements/
https://www.readingintosuccess.org/kcrg-march-4-2016-companies-nonprofits-cooperating-to-help-schools-meet-reading-requirements/#respondTue, 08 Mar 2016 19:20:31 +0000http://www.readingintosuccess.org/?p=113Click here to view the story that aired Friday, March 4 2016 about the launch of Reading into Success

Cedar Rapids Joins Nationwide Campaign for Grade-Level Reading

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA — Cedar Rapids is taking a big step toward improving student success by joining the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (GLR), a nationwide movement to increase early reading proficiency. The local effort, called Reading into Success, is a collaborative community initiative including four school districts, and more than 20 organizations and programs that want to increase the number of children reading proficiently by third grade. United Way of East Central Iowa is one of these organizations.

“We are honored to provide backbone support toward setting the youngest members of our community on a path to success,” says Lois Buntz, President and CEO of United Way of East Central Iowa. “With education as a core focus area for our organization and a community goal of improving fourth grade reading, being a lead in bringing the Campaign for Grade Level Reading to the Cedar Rapids community was a natural fit for United Way of East Central Iowa.”

Reading proficiency by the end of third grade is a critical milestone toward high school graduation and success later in life because it marks the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” National tests show that two-thirds of fourth graders in the United States (four-fifths of whom are from low-income families) are not reading proficiently. Locally, one in four third graders do not read proficiently, a number that increases to one in three for low-income students. Students who have not mastered reading by third grade are more likely to drop out of high school and struggle throughout their lives.

“We know that the ability of a child to read at grade level by age nine is critical to the child’s future,” says Les Garner, President and CEO at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. “Unfortunately, too many of our children in our metro area are not meeting this benchmark. We are proud to be part of a community-wide solution for this issue. This is about all community members understanding the importance of grade level reading, and coming together to support children and impact academic outcomes.”

The plan focuses on addressing five underlying challenges that can keep young children, especially those from low-income families, from learning to read proficiently:
• School readiness: Too many children enter kindergarten already behind
• School attendance: Too many young children miss too many days of school
• Summer learning: Too many children lose ground academically during the summer
• Hope & well-being: Too many children suffer adverse experiences or negative life circumstances
• Every day reading: Too many children aren’t exposed to books in their homes

Membership in the GLR Communities Network gives Cedar Rapids access to experts and policymakers focused on early literacy, assistance in addressing the challenges that keep many children from learning to read, and opportunities to share and learn best practices from more than 240 communities across the country.